Last December, I told you about the new fresh beef Quarter Pounders from McDonald’s, but I had no clue Burger King was also testing out fresh patties for their Whopper. Right across the street from where my Burger Museum was located, there is a corporate-owned Burger King.
I pulled into the lot around the front of the building to get some of the new crispy chicken tenders. At the drive-thru, I encounter a poster mentioning a new fresh beef Whopper.
While paying, I ask the fella at the window about the sign. He was clueless about it.
As I’m driving home, I think about it some more. Then, I head to the Burger King corporate location near their headquarters.
It’s a few blocks from my home. I drive around the drive-thru’s outer perimeter but see no signage touting it.
Now I’m fully committed to finding out more about it. But, after a quick internet search, I encounter nothing.
How many Burger Kings?
This adventure takes me to five more locations en route to Westchester. I finally found the Burger King on Bird Road and 117th Avenue with the poster I was looking for.
I ordered a Whopper with only cheese, mayo, and ketchup, and another exactly as it comes for my parents. Then, I ask the guy in the window about the fresh beef Whopper.
He tells me that they’ve been selling them that way for a while but only recently began publicly mentioning it. So I park in the Burger King lot and open my wrapped fresh beef Whopper.
There I find a patty that looks thicker than a regular one. A feeling of nostalgia comes over me when I hold and then bite into it.
I remember when I could barely hold a Burger King double cheeseburger as a kid. Of course, growing up, we were a Burger King household, and my Mom was and still is one of the world’s biggest Whopper fans.
It had all the right flavor notes of a Whopper but seemed to be missing the very pronounced flame-grilled taste that makes Burger King who they are. I liked it, but I feel this was a little off, so I’m hoping to give it another go again in a few days.
My parents split their Whopper, and both loved it even though I forgot to get cheese. But, hey, you can’t win ’em all.
Fresh Beef Whopper with Cheese
A few days later, I was back for a second try at the fresh beef Whopper, but this time, it was a double with cheese mayo and ketchup. Again, it tasted just like a Whopper but with a less pronounced charbroil taste.
After telling a few friends about it, we drove to Burger King, but the posters were down, and the fresh beef Whoppers were gone from the menu. We have never heard about them again.